Tennis: 5 Players who are part of the elusive '100 Titles Club'

Swiss great Roger Federer recently won his 100th ATP title in Dubai making him only the second man in the Open Era to enter the elusive '3 digit club'. The Swiss maestro beat his Australian Open conqueror, Stefanos Tsitsipas, 17 years his junior in the final. The enormous scale of Federer's achievement was aptly summed up by the Greek youngster who remarked that he was first looking at getting to a 100 match wins which itself is an achievement.

There have been 10 players among Men who have won a 100 titles or more but only 2 of them have done so in the Open Era. Likewise in the Women's draw, there have been 5 players who won 100 or more titles with 3 of them having achieved it in the Open Era.

We focus our discussion on the 5 players who entered the 'Century Plus Club' in the Open Era.

NOTE: It is noteworthy to mention that Australian great Rod Laver won a total of 200 Singles titles (a majority of them in the Amateur Era) in his career and it is highly unlikely to ever be surpassed. Also worthy of mention is fellow Australian Margaret Court's record of 192 Singles titles.

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#5 Roger Federer

Global tennis icon Roger Federer celebrates his 100th Singles title in Dubai

The latest entrant to the 100 trophy club was 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer. Since winning his very first ATP title in Milan in the year 2001, the great man has won at least one title every year since barring 2016.

Reflecting on a memorable journey, Federer said that it wasn't all about Grand Slams and he wouldn't have got to a century if he didn't give adequate importance to ATP tournaments. Title number 50 came at the Cincinnati Masters of 2007 when he beat James Blake in the final. “It’s not a goal I set for myself in my career, but it’s definitely a nice number to get to,” Federer said at the time. He was made to wait for a while after winning title #99 in his hometown of Basel in October last year where he won for a record 9th time.

Having committed himself to play the clay court season, Federer has surely set his eyes on taking the number one slot among men. One wouldn't certainly bet against him achieving that milestone anytime soon as his nearest rival among active players is Rafael Nadal - who is a good 20 titles behind with 80 title wins.

#4 Steffi Graf

Steffi Graf - won a total of 6 French Open Tennis Championships despite clay being her least preferred surface

German tennis queen Steffi Graf who dominated women's tennis in the late 1980's and 1990's was the last member to enter the privileged century club before Federer did so this year.

With an aggregated win percentage of 88.67%, Steffi stands second among all athletes in terms of win percentage. The only athlete in tennis who can boast of a 'Golden Slam' which she won in 1988, Steffi was a teenage sensation who charmed the tennis audience with her aggressive style of play and speed around the court.

One of the greatest exponents of the one-handed backhand, Graf was recently voted the 'greatest female tennis player of all-time' by Tennis.com in a survey. In a career spanning 17 years, Graf won 107 Singles titles including 22 Grand Slam titles.

#3 Jimmy Connors

Jimmy Connors post retirement has had coaching stints with Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard

For many years, the only male member of the '100 Trophy Club', Jimmy Connors had a long and successful career winning titles well into his 30's just like Roger Federer. The southpaw's two-handed backhands were among the most powerful. Connors who made his debut in the year 1970 retired 26 years later in 1996 at the age of 43.

A maverick, Connors had the ability to get the crowd involved and most of the times it worked in his favor. Having played in the Sport for 26 long years, Connors holds the record for the most Singles matches played and won in the Open Era.

The numbers are 1535 and 1256 respectively. Together with Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, Connors holds the record for the most US Open titles won in the Open Era with five titles. In all Connors won 109 Singles titles including 8 Grand Slam Singles titles.

Connors welcomed Federer into the 100 trophy club last month saying it has been quite lonely all these years.

Welcome to the “ Triple Digit” tournament victory club @rogerfederer — I’ve been a bit lonely- glad to have the company !!!

— Jimmy Connors (@JimmyConnors) March 2, 2019

#2 Chris Evert

Chris Evert was not only a successful tennis player but post her playing career served as President of the WTA

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11 years in 2 spells.

Undoubtedly the greatest clay court player that the women's game has ever had, American Chris Evert was a towering force in Women's tennis in the 1970's and 1980's. With a career singles win percentage of 89.97%, Evert's figure is the highest among all tennis athletes in Singles.

The numbers which Evert aggregated in her long tennis career certainly deserve to be spoken in lavish terms - her record of winning at least one Grand Slam title for 13 consecutive years is second to none as his her feat of making 34 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals appearances from the 1971 US Open to the 1983 French Open. With 157 SIngles titles inclusive of 18 Grand Slam Singles titles, Evert's place in the annals of tennis history is unquestioned.

#1 Martina Navratilova

9-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova is the sport's most decorated athlete with 167 Singles titles and 177 Doubles titles.

The most complete player of all-time, Martina Navratilova tasted success across Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles across an unprecedented career span of 31 years stretching starting from 1975 and culminating in 2006 when she won the US Open Mixed Doubles title at the age of 50. The Czech born American citizen, Navratilova is the only player in tennis history to have been World Number 1 in both Singles and Doubles for 200 weeks or more. One of 3 women to have achieved the holy grail of tennis - winning the 'Boxed Set' - all 4 Grand Slams across all 3 formats, Navratilova's rivalry with fellow American Chris Evert in the 1970's and 1980's was the stuff of legends. The two great rivals as different as chalk and cheese were good friends off the court. Navratilova's glittering career saw her win a remarkable 177 Doubles titles and 167 Singles titles making her the most successful tennis athlete in the Open Era.